...

re-organized the thread for the new year... will just update with fancy instagrammy pics in the thread, and add thumbnail here.
you can always see the lightboxed shots and other angles of each custom in my flickr customs set.

love it! why not paint the cup?

lol... the cup IS painted! i started off with a blank yellow. (if you click through to the larger images, you may be able to see some
of the slight variations i tried to work in... was going for a watermelon bubble tea sort of look.)

from original post
i started by mixing my own colors (liquitex soft body acrylics), adding in airbrush medium and spraying in layers. then i came back
in to do the details in gouache with a brush, re-did the claws to add some texture with the remaining airbrush-ready acrylics and a
brush, and finally added the dot details with a squeeze tip bottle (golden fluid acrylics).

i wanted to keep it simple for my first time out, and tried to get the layers to bring out the texture in the sculpt. i'd thought about a
rub along the back to play up the texture even more, but again... keep it simple, stupid. the green dots near the claws were my nod
to bwana... in case you haven't seen my shelves, let's just say i've got a lot of reference material for inspiration.

nice work man. The spray pattern is great.

You did a fine job on this lil' booger Chris! I like how you went for a "realistic" paint app. It looks good. And the little moss dots were a nice touch.

haha, I thought it was one of the unpainted pink vinyl ones

I LOVE it Chris!!

Totally phenomenal job. I love the different colours and transitions on the fur, and the nails came out perfect. This is really an awesome addition to any family of Bwana figures. If you are ever thinking about doing more, well, you should!

very cute , love it !

congrats man, that looks really good.

I said it over on instagram, but this is definitely my favorite custom ive seen of one of these. its nice to be able to see all the textures and details of the sculpt. nice job buddy *thumbs up*

This guy is beautiful!

Perfection, Chris... I think you just nailed it when you took the decision to keep your custom simple: soft colors and painting look great! Really one of the best Sloths I've seen so far!!!

Looks great Chris! Really nice paint app and colors.

Just one thought. Did you clear coat? If not, since you used acrylics, there's a chance he's going to get sticky....

i plan on clear-coating him... but i'm waiting to hear back on a tip about the gouache. i'm worried that the moisture may cause the
pigment to run. anyone here ever tried to clear coat gouache? any advice would be appreciated!

just finished up this custom steven the bat while m is off in the suburbs at her bridal shower. what better excuse to paint, right? =p

same deal as the sloth, done in acrylic and gouache, and with a fancy new matte varnish this time! (god, i'm really beginning to love
liquitex!) there are a lot of small subtleties in the paint, as i layered two different black mixes, then used the back of a popsicle stick to
get the splattering of white. the teeth, hands, feet ears and eye are all done in gouache, building in a little extra brush texture to break
up the smoothness of the sprays. and as a last little touch, i went back and stripped all the paint of his right fang before i clear coated
him, so that one tooth is blue gid!

playing around with some different grounding mediums for working on transparent vinyl. not sure if i like the finished product as much as the
other two, but i'm still trying to experiment. my biggest complaint is about the eyes... i just can't seem to get the pupils to work the way i want.

^^
The bukakke version looks fun.

Oh Snap!

yeah... now that it's been said, i can't unsee it...
so with that, here's blue steven... take two:



after bryce's comment, i decided it was time to strip the last attempt and start over. but in keeping with the "try a new technique" theme,
i went for a bit of brush work... more so that i would usually attempt. i also picked up a few more transparent paints, and layered them to
get the gradation i wanted. then the brush stuff... a bit thicker than i would have hoped, but i'm still happy with how it turned out. (and who
doesn't want an excuse to go out and buy a new, smaller brush... right? =p)

Oh now that is very good Chris. I like the back shot you have posted on Flickr, too. Simple and effective.

...







...

so the missus was away this weekend in portland, which meant i got to sit around and paint undisturbed!
the zag body is my new brush holder... i'll have to take a shot of him on my drafting table being helpful. =p

this weekend's trip through the ruination process! another simple paint application, but this time playing with a
really thin acrylic wash to add some layering. also a little bit of metallic bronze in the wash, so he's got a nice bit
of sheen to him. winning? =p

That last steven looks great and the buta micros are so cute

I like the bracelets and stubble on ol' pinko. It would be great to see a Steven in the same style as the Sloth and the little Butas. I think those guys really have a lot of character.